Madrid. – Since the price of avocados has not stopped rising, 96% of production ends up in the European Union, the ownership of the 600 hectare farm La Torre-La Janera (in the province of Huelva) was fixed in the 2018 cover. With this Lauraceae plant. Given the potential archaeological potential of the land, the Junta de Andalucía placed a condition on it: a survey had to be carried out first. The result has been splendid. Archaeologists have discovered three megalithic enclosures, “possibly connected with the control of the cycle of the seasons and the observation of celestial phenomena”, two cromlechs (stone circles similar to Stonehenge), 526 different groups of menhirs and dolmens. Experts from the universities of Huelva and Alcalá de Henares describe this complex – which began to erect at the end of the sixth millennium before our era and stood for about 3,000 years – as “unique”, One of the largest megalithic concentrations in Europe.
La Torre-La Janera is located on the left bank of the Guadiana River, around the Monte Gordo hill (155 m). Currently, the land is located at a distance of about 15 kilometers from the coast, but this was not always the case. In recent prehistory, between 6,500 and 4,000 years BC. c., the sea level was two meters high and only the retreat of the water led to the formation of the current fluvial clogging and swamps.
On both sides of the lower part of the Guadiana, on its border with Portugal, archaeologists already knew of various megaliths carved from sandy rock composed of greywacke, mica, feldspar and quartz. There was evidence of two menhirs, five dolmens, three circular burial areas (tholoi), a quarry and four necropolises, among other constructions. But new surveys, the use of photo-interpretation of satellite and aerial images, as well as LiDAR (laser) data among other techniques, have revealed an archaeologically very rich world.
Primitiva Bueno-Ramirez, Professor of Prehistory at the University of Alcalá de Henares, defines it as: “So far, no such compact concentration of megalithic sites is known, anywhere in Europe, with such hopes of obtaining archaeological data, And I know all of them. The important thing is that the delegation of the Junta de Andalucía, Huelva, the mayor of the region and the owner of the land is very involved.
Article The megalithic site of La Torre-La Janera (Huelva): the prehistoric monument of Bajo Guadiana, published in the magazine prehistoric works, Archaeologists José Antonio Linares-Catella, Coronada Mora Molina, Adara López López, Teodosio Donaire Romero, Juan Carlos Vera-Rodriguez and Primitiva Bueno-Ramirez, found that “this is by far a unique site in the Iberian Peninsula. Stone architecture and their Other associated manifestations refer to different chronological phases of recent prehistory, monuments coexisting with different functions and technical traditions”. The site, he says, is “high density and diversity of greywacke megaliths and extraction areas, rock carvings and stands for related findings such as dry stone formations.”
Menhirs have the most elements: 526 have been found standing or collapsed., Their shapes are the most diverse, since lenticular, ovoid, subtrapezoidal and oblong are located. Its length varies from 1 to 3.5 meters. “The vast majority have been found in the same place or vicinity where they were extracted, as is common in French Brittany.” In addition, menhirs that are incomplete or discarded by their creators must be added as a result of the breakdown. However, its surfaces are still visible “including roughness, carving and picketing by direct collision of edges and surfaces, polishing and abrasion in specific areas”.
Among menhirs found in circular burial mounds, stands the so-called API-2, located on the left bank of the Rosin stream, 3.5 meters long and one wide. It is dry-walled with stones arranged diagonally and reinforced with two large parallel walls. “Its anatomical monumentality and the carvings on its western face highlight its symbolic value,” say experts.
Most of the menhirs (up to 260) are concentrated in 26 alignments and two in Cromlech. alignment, can reach from one to six rows 250 meters in length in some cases, Roses on all slopes or peaks. The two cromlechs were “built on top of hills with a clear horizon to the east, from which the equinox and solstice sunrises can be seen.” The best preserved is made up of nine recumbent menhirs, which form an open U on the east side. Another 20 meters away and 300 meters to the south-west a similar monument can be seen with six other menhirs, delimiting the distance from 65 to 40 meters.
In addition to these constructions, experts have found another 475 supports for them that have been displaced from their place of origin and possibly scattered across the country. old farm work, But in addition to these spectacular elements, many dolmens, burial mounds and pits have been unearthed that “should have funeral containerHowever, it is also not ruled out that some are associated with evocative practices and memorial rituals, which may or may not include the deposition of offerings, as found in burial mounds in other peninsular regions.
Notably, dolmens have been found both isolated and grouped. One of them has a chamber 3.50 meters long, about one meter wide and a circular burial mound with a diameter of seven meters that surrounds it. For their part, the stone burial mounds vary in length, between 6 and 17 meters, and have attached stelae. In addition, 41 individual ulcers have been documented for two or more individuals. They are rectangular structures 1 to 2.5 meters long carved in stone.
For the three megalithic enclosures found on terraces or platforms, they are “Large open and clear construction on staggered levels”, Inside, structures with diverse functions and chronology are concentrated: dolmens, cisterns and menhirs. According to the study, they are “located on prominent hills, with wide visibility and great landscape intelligibility, whose peaks and slopes were topographically modified. They are centered around the Rosin stream and house reused menhirs.” , at their ends or are fragmented in half. One of the enclosures is 1.95 ha on the surface and reaches a length of 200 m in its main axis. It consists of a circular platform at the top and two surrounding levels made of large block masonry walls. On the south-eastern slope, there are up to six levels. There are 15 reused menhirs, megalithic cists, rock-cut structures and masonry constructions.
Another enclosure found is H-shaped, 1.18 hectares and is 100 meters long and 80 meters wide. It is situated on a plateau elevation with a clear horizon in the east with a progressive decline of 6.5% from north-west to south-east. It consists of an upper platform and three walls of large stone blocks and a structure formed by a union of six reused menhirs.
third campusThe U-shape, in this case, is 150 meters on each side and spans over 1.2 hectares. Its layout, adapted to two rocky spurs, combines sections of block and masonry. Around it are another six menhirs and three mines. 46 extraction areas are also located – 24 of them for medium and small blocks – and 22 for large blocks. Its surroundings are blocks in the process of change, quartzite hammers and hammers and abandoned supports of between one and three metres. As far as the cave carvings are concerned, 10 are numbered, mainly composed of circles and cut lines. Some engravings are overlaid on natural erosion marks to take advantage of linear grooves, grooves and stripes.
The report recalls that “the fusion between the natural and the anthropomorphic is what gives La Torre-La Janera its character, with most monuments having a rough appearance and a simple appearance. Alignment and Cromlach open monuments with more complex forms and functions.” They were created in excellent locations and with wide visibility of landscapes that allow them to be spatially aligned with the surrounding relief, horizon and sky. were attached to, as is common in this type of group.
for experts, “Dolmens, burial mounds and cisterns may have served as homes for the dead and ritual sites”, which contains the relics and offerings of ancestors. Collective construction and communal activities carried out by the communities of Bajo Guadiana around Menhir and Dolmens may have served to heal the area of the ancestors, promote intergroup bonds of cohesion and create a long-term memory of the place. ,
And they conclude:Its discovery provides new arguments that reinforce the explanation of Atlantic megalithism as one of the oldest human phenomena aimed at the transformation and humanization of regions., As a result, the site broadens the horizon of knowledge of the megalithism of Western Europe and the research potential of the peninsular southwest.
The study was carried out within the general research project Menhigua. Menhirs and Megaliths at Bajo Guadiana. Work began in late 2021 and will continue until 2027, at which time the “comprehensive analysis of the deposits” is planned to be finished.
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